In collaboration with City of Boston departments including the Boston Public Works Department (BPWD), Boston Transportation Department (BTD), Disabilities Department, Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC), and Boston Parks and Recreation Department (BPRD), Nitsch performed field survey, assisted with public outreach, and designed roadway improvements for the entire 1,400-foot length of New England Avenue in Dorchester. The improvements were designed in accordance with the City’s Complete Streets Design Guidelines and will reduce vehicle speeds through the residential neighborhood, increase safety and mobility for all modes of travel, and incorporate green infrastructure to treat stormwater runoff.
Nitsch worked closely with the City’s Active Transportation Department to create traffic calming elements including chicanes, raised speed tables, and reduced travel lane widths to encourage slower speeds through the densely populated neighborhood. We incorporated a new 500-foot-long sidewalk between Norfolk Street and Southern Avenue to improve pedestrian access through the neighborhood to key bus stop locations. Bicycle lanes and sharrow pavement markings provide safe access for bicyclists, encouraging more bicycle use.
In coordination with the BWSC, Nitsch designed green infrastructure components that are effective, sustainable, and require little maintenance to improve the quality and reduce the quantity of stormwater runoff that enters the City storm drain network. We designed three separate bioretention areas that infiltrate stormwater and absorb and retain some of the pollutant load (phosphorous and nitrogen) commonly found in urban stormwater runoff. The new street trees have structural soil to promote root growth/infiltration and vegetated roadside swales to capture and treat roadway runoff to reduce the overall runoff entering the city drainage network.
Key Collaborators
Owner: Boston Public Works Department
